I have many interests, so this is going to be a blog on lots of subjects. Submarines, my family, history, books I read, the space programme, archaeology, astronomy, current events, the occasional joke.... Just don't expect any politics, sports or deep philosophy, and we should get along fine.

19 September 2006

This day in history: 19 Sep

1356: The English (under Edward of Woodstock, the Black Prince) defeated the French (under King John II) at the Battle of Poitiers, capturing the king.

1692: Giles Corey was pressed to death after refusing to enter a plea during the Salem witch trials. (It is a misconception that people were burned at the stake after said trials; Corey was pressed, and the nineteen who were found guilty were hanged.)

1863: The second day of the Battle of Chickamauga, between Braxton Bragg's (Confederate) Army of Tennessee and William Rosecrans' (Union) Army of the Cumberland. The battle concluded the next day in a Confederate victory.

1881: President James Garfield died, eighty days after being shot by Charles Guiteau. (Guiteau was hanged on 30 Jun 1882.)

1893: The Governor of New Zealand, consented to the Electoral Act of 1893, giving all women the right to vote.

1934: Bruno Richard Hauptmann was arrested for the murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr.

1991: The body of Ötzi, the Iceman, was discovered by German tourists.